Perry Raso Got His Start Digging Clams; Now He Raises Oysters

When Perry Raso was in high school, he discovered a way to always have walking around money. It  came from below the wet sand near his home in South Kingstown, RI. Digging clams was the way he kept his car running and his wallet full back then.

Today Raso is still digging in the mud and mining the sea. His Matunuck Oyster Bar and thriving oyster farm keeps him and six farm employees busy six days a week.  The location right on the water in Matunuck where the Potter Pond estuary drains, provides diners with gorgeous views of boats coming in and out, and of the dock where he keeps the little outboard that he uses to harvest the oysters.

We joined Perry on the boat and watched as he waded in the water to show us the heavy plastic mesh bags that contain varying sizes of the bivalves. “We have millions and millions growing, they grow in these bags that are all set up in rows. It takes about 2-3 years for them to grow to maturity,” he said.  Later in the restaurant we sampled his tiny Matunuck oysters, and the Ninigret variety, a little larger.  Whether served raw and briny, or prepared with cream and spinach in Oysters Rockefeller, they were fresh, salty and delicious.

“Marroir is a new term,” Perry told us, lifting up a juvenile oyster from the algae coated bag. “People speak of marroir, in the same way they judge wines by ‘terroir,’ where it is grown.  Different ponds and estuaries produce different tasting oysters. The critic’s take on Matunuck’s oysters?  ‘Surprisingly sweet finish…crisp, briny with sweet citrus and earthy tastes.”

While Perry is doing well with this bustling restaurant and a wholesale business to New York, Boston and Atlanta to beat the band, what stirs him more is the work he’s done in developing countries. He’s been to Africa and Asia on missions funded by USAID to help poor countries develop better methods of aquaculture.  He’s mulling over an invite to China…but still finds it odd that anyone there would need his help. “They’ve been doing aquaculture in China for centuries, I can’t figure out what they need me for.”